falling
by a j f a y e
Summary: the moment poseidon and sally jackson met on that beach in montauk, he knew it would be much too easy to fall in love


He had first seen her on the beach, right at the edge of the waves, from his Kingdom-under-the-Sea. Her beauty had enticed him, but what had _truly _drawn him in was her aura – full of compassion and warmth and _sweetness_. So he met her on the beach and she had _seen_ him through the Mist as what he truly was, had seen his trident and godly power and she _still _loved him_._

He knew he couldn't do this – couldn't _love_, no matter how easy it would be, like falling. He was climbing an impossible cliff, with hardly any hand-holds and a vertical slope. It would be too easy to just let go; to give up and let himself fall. The hard part was to keep climbing, to leave behind everything good because it was _the right thing to do_. If he stayed she would suffer, she would carry his child and that would bring her danger and he wouldn't – _couldn't_ – be there to protect her. It hurt him, every time he grasped another handhold that carried him farther away from her, but he _had to do it_, so he would.

But he couldn't tear himself away from her, with her chestnut-colored hair and ocean-blue eyes. They were sitting together, side-by-side at the very edge of the sand, right where the sea met land. She leaned her head against his shoulder, and he smelled sugar and chocolate and all-around sweetness, a scent he always recognized as _her_. He knew that he would have to decide _right then_ what he would do – to keep climbing or let go. The small beach waves churned, crashing onto the sand with growing ferocity, but always _just _missing them. His decision kept swirling back and forth – stay or leave – like the rhythm of the waves. _Damn it all_, she was ten times a goddess than the ones _he_ knew.

Sally Jackson.

And then she looked up at him with those ocean-blue eyes, so open and full of trust and love _just for him_, and he _knew_ he couldn't leave her. The waves calmed, and his sea-green eyes met ocean-blue and their lips met halfway and he knew then he was falling. They spent the night there, where the waves crashed on the sand, and _he_ was the waves and _she_ was the sand and that night they crashed together in a whirlwind of passion. In the morning he awoke as the sun rose over the sea and he gazed at the beautiful woman beside him and realized _he loved her_. But _no one_ could know about that night. It would be their secret, a secret only known by the waves that still broke on the sandy beach.

But then she was pregnant and everything came crashing down and he knew he shouldn't have let himself fall. She would bear his child and he (or she, but he just had this _feeling_ that he would be a boy) would be powerful and he might even be part of _The Great_ _Prophecy_ and life just got a whole lot more complicated. He had fallen, and now he was broken because she was in danger and it was _all his fault_. The summer was almost over and he would have to leave her and his child and he _couldn't bear it_, but he had to. He was Earthshaker, or Stormbringer – The God of the Seas and Oceans, and he had his godly duties to attend to. They spent their last day holding each other on the beach, right at the edge of the waves, and she promised she would always love him and he promised he would see her again and then he kissed her – one last, passionate kiss with all the power of the Ocean behind it – and he took up his trident and he disappeared beneath the waves.

He watched from his underwater Court as she cried and cried and wouldn't leave the beach for days, and every day she would always be at the edge of the waves and he would see her and something inside him would break. But the summer was over and she soon returned to the city with his child and he still turned his eyes towards that beach every day, even though he _knew_ she wouldn't be there. Months passed and it was the winter solstice and he traveled to Mount Olympus for the meeting of the gods. But then it was over and he was in the city and he just _had to see her. _When he arrived at her apartment she had gone out for a moment, but he heard a baby's cry and opened the door to a tiny nursery and saw _him_, and he was falling in love all over again_._

Perseus Jackson.

His smile, as he looked down at the baby – _his_ _son_ – was filled with warmth and love. He knew he could never regret that summer at the beach, and his fall had rather been a _leap_, with His Ocean below to catch him. His son would live and grow up and do great things because he was the son of _Poseidon_. And then the front door creaked open and he heard _her_, and he would see her again but not now, so he slipped out of the tiny nursery like mist on a warm sea breeze and he saw her stiffen and look straight at him. But then she turned away and he was gone, and he wouldn't see her again for years to come.

The fall – _leap_ – had been worth it. He had discovered a Queen among women, a precious pearl in the confines of a clam. She'll survive, and she'll protect herself and her son, for _him_. His son – Perseus Jackson – would grow up and live and even if he _was_ part of The Great Prophecy he would survive because he was _her_ son, and he knew that she would _never_ let him give up.

He was Poseidon, and this mortal woman, and now her – _their_ – son, had captured his heart and he had fallen, but _oh_ what a sweet fall it had been.


End file.
